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Donald “Doc” Jernigan Receives Excellence in Track Services Award

Richmond’s own, Donald “Doc” Jernigan, received one of the most prestigious awards from NASCAR earlier today at the sanctioning body’s annual Summit for medical, safety, security and track services personnel. A record number of attendees representing facilities that host NASCAR’s national, touring and weekly and IMSA series events were on hand as NASCAR presented Jernigan with the Excellence in Track Services Award.

Jernigan, long-time Fire Chief at RIR, has been instrumental over his many years of service at Richmond, taking the ownership role in seeing that the Track Services fire team performs at a professional level each and every year, each and every event. “Doc is dedicated to this cause and is a true leader who is highly regarded within the Richmond organization and industry as well,” shared David Hoots, Managing Event Director, NASCAR Race Services, as he presented Jernigan with the award earlier this morning.

Each year, the NASCAR Track Services team accepts nominations for Track Services awards from its group of NASCAR Trainers throughout its national series tracks, as well as from the Track Services team. The Excellence in Track Services Award is presented annually to the individual who has made significant contributions to the improvement of Track Services at a single track over the course of a career spanning 10 years or more.

“This award is a great honor for Doc, his staff and Richmond International Raceway,” said Dennis Bickmeier, President of RIR. “We’re so proud of Doc and appreciate his dedication to RIR, our track services team and the safety of the competitors and fans. I can’t think of anyone who is more deserving of the Excellence in Track Services Award than our own Doc Jernigan.”

The NASCAR Summit has become one of the most vital and unique preseason conventions in all of motorsports, with more than 800 attendees converging to ideate and address numerous key topics in their areas of expertise prior to the start of the 2015 NASCAR and IMSA racing seasons.

“This event is one of the most important elements of each new season,” said NASCAR Senior Vice President of Racing Operations Jim Cassidy. “The success of our events and the safety, comfort and enjoyment of our fans is heavily reliant on the cohesive work of these dedicated professionals – including an enormous amount of advance preparation.”

Additional awards were presented by NASCAR to individuals who excelled during the previous season in their various fields. Those honored for their work in 2014 include:

Medical

Above and Beyond Award – Blaine Bates, Field InvestigatorNASCAR Canadian Tire Series